


Breaking and Entering

by Just_here_for_a_laugh



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Blanket Nests, Caught, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fireworks Show, Fluff, One Shot, Post-Canon, Sneaking Out, Sokka always has a plan, You Decide, can be read as ship or friendship, fluffy friends, though not always a good plan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26424844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_here_for_a_laugh/pseuds/Just_here_for_a_laugh
Summary: After Sokka and Zuko sneak out of the palace to see a fireworks show, they have to figure out a way to get back in without being seen. That goes just about as well as you'd expect
Relationships: Sokka & Suki & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 97





	Breaking and Entering

The two ducked behind an apple cart, hushing each other through giggles. Creeping to the edge of the old, wooden cart and peering out, Sokka looked out at the bustling crowd and pulled back.

  
“Okay,” he whispered, “there’s enough of a crowd to blend in but not too many people that we’ll get held up and risk someone recognizing you.” Zuko nodded, crawling over to look out from behind their hiding place as well. Sokka pointed to a lantern hanging on the corner of a building. “All we have to do is make it to that light and we can slip off into the trees. That’s where the water ends and we can walk the rest of the way in the dark until we reach the palace.” Zuko could hear the river rushing on the other side of the railing just a few feet away from the boys and remembered seeing the bend his friend was referring to on their way in. He had been nearly overwhelmed with banquets, ceremonies, meetings, negotiations, and all manner of other royal stress headaches lately and had had no time to think about anything else in weeks. Sokka had decided that this was unacceptable and had insisted that his friend sneak out with him in the dead of night to watch the fireworks show at the local street market. It was the most fun Zuko had had in ages, dressed in a borrowed set of Sokka’s street clothes and sitting on the cobblestone steps, buzzing with excitement and awe. They had darted away from the crowd as soon as the display had ended and now they were having a bit of trouble navigating the minefield of potential witnesses to their escapade. But hey, that’s what happens when you sneak the Firelord into a late night street show.

  
The river in question that they needed to avoid ran for the most part completely under the market, which sat on an expansive stone platform. Part of the river however did flow alongside an edge of the market which sat on the hill instead of the constructed stone landing. It did indeed bend where Sokka had pointed and gave way to the soft grass and dark trees of the forest; the boys just needed to get there without being recognized. Checking once again to make sure that the congestion had eased to an optimal amount, they took off.

  
The cobblestone road was winding and they bumped into more than a few people in their dash to the lantern, but the nature of a closing street market gave them a little leeway on the front of minor altercations. Halfway through their race to the river bend Sokka reached behind him and grabbed Zuko’s hand in order to keep from getting separated. He pulled the Firelord through the throng of people and past the lantern, plunging into the shadowy peace around the building’s corner. The two stood catching their breaths for a moment in the dark.

  
“Thank you,” Zuko panted. Sokka grinned.

  
“I figured you probably weren’t used to elbowing your way through hordes in a market so I thought I’d lend a hand.” Zuko laughed, leaning back against the wall and looking up at the stars.

  
“Yeah, the guards usually have a thing or two to say about me running into big crowds,” he agreed with a smile. “Guards who are going to kill us by the way.”

  
“Relax,” Sokka scoffed smuggly, “my plans are foolproof.” Zuko laughed.

  
“That’s one word for them.” Sokka gasped in mock offense and shoved his friend lightly on the shoulder. Laughter bubbling up once more, the pair headed off into the woods.

  


  


They followed the river until they got to the tree that Sokka had tied a piece of cloth to on their trek out. From there they headed west until they could see the palace in the distance. The two were on a shallow hill and from their vantage point they were able to see not only the palace itself but also the main road leading from the front gates out towards the city. The ornate curved eaves held lanterns every few meters, illuminating the grounds underneath. While this presented a challenge for the two escapees, it did offer a benefit as well: the light made them easier to spot, but it also made the guards easy to see and more importantly easy to track.

  
‘Alright,” Sokka whispered, “all we have to do is figure out the time it takes each guard to make a full round and anticipate when they will be out of range to see us. Then we just climb up to the same window we snuck out of and we’re home free.”

  
“Okay,” Zuko answered, “but how do we do that? We had a rope last time.”

  
“Exactly.”

  
“We pulled it down so the guards wouldn’t see it!” Zuko hissed, but Sokka raised a finger and grinned, that mischievous twinkle in his eye that Zuko had known long enough to see either a miracle or disaster coming their way.

  
“Ah, just leave that to me.” Zuko sighed. He was almost certainly going to regret this.

  
They watched the guards patrolling the east side of the palace as well as the back wall which held the window. Although Zuko’s quarters were further towards the wall’s center within an inlet of the construction, the area had heavier patrols designed to thwart any would-be assassins. Instead the pair had climbed out the window of a drawing room near the corner of the building on the same floor. It had little strategic importance, especially so late at night, so the security surrounding it was nothing more than the standard procedures. There was also a large tree growing a few meters away which allowed for a small amount of coverage and shadow to hide in if their estimation of the guards’ timing proved imprecise. With one last look to each other as the guard rounded the corner, the boys nodded and took off running. They made it about a third of the way before the next guard appeared. Sokka held out an arm to stop Zuko and they crouched down in the darkness. They began again once this guard made the turn, repeating like this every few minutes as the patrol positions changed. As they got nearer to their destination, and thus more likely to be seen or heard, they slowed down and stayed lower, going shorter and shorter distances each time until they had curved around to the back of the palace and crouched down by the old tree.

  
“Alright,” Zuko whispered, “now what?” Sokka held up his hand signaling for the Firelord to stay put and watched the guard head toward the corner. As soon as she was gone Sokka dashed to the wall and dove into the line of shrubbery at its base. A second or so later he emerged and raced back to the tree, arms full of something. He slid onto the ground next to Zuko and pulled out a rope.

  
“Okay,” he started, his breath heavy from exertion and excitement. “This wall is only ever unguarded for about thirty seconds at a time so we’ll have to climb fast, but it’s doable.”

  
“What?” Zuko squawked. “Are you insane?”

  
“Oh come on,” Sokka jived, “all those sword lessons must be good for something, Firelord. I’ve seen you swing weapons Aang couldn’t even lift and free climb cliffs, it shouldn’t be that hard!” Zuko rolled his eyes. There was no doubt that he could climb a rope, and in truth he could probably do it within thirty seconds and still have time to pull the cord up before the guard came by, then drop it down again for Sokka when she left, but that was on a good day. Not a day when he had barely slept in weeks, and not a day in which he had just walked and ran a good distance to and from the market. Besides, even if they had both been in peak condition there was one thing Sokka was neglecting to take into account.

  
“How are we supposed to get the rope up to the window in the first place?” Sokka beamed.

  
“I am so glad that you asked.” He pulled out from behind his back the other items which he had retrieved from the bushes: a bow and arrow. Zuko stared at the weapons in his hands.

  
“You have got to be joking.”

  
“Come on it’s brilliant! All we have to do is tie the rope onto the nock of the arrow and fire it through the window. Then we climb up and boom, we’re in your quarters in no time!” Zuko sighed and rubbed his hands over his face before bringing them to rest on the bridge of his nose. There were so many problems with this plan that he barely knew where to begin, but he decided to start with the premise itself.

  
“Sokka, how do we even know the window will be open?”

  
“I left it open when we went out.”

  
“Yeah, but this is a drawing room we’re alking about, not a bedroom. There’s nothing stopping someone from going inside and closing a mysteriously open window.” Sokka was silent for a beat.

  
“Oh.”

  
“And if we break the glass,”

  
“There’ll be a noise. Right,” the boy finished, looking up at the palace wall. “Well, maybe we can see if it’s open from here.” He sounded hopeful, but as the boys squinted at the high window it was pretty clear that the night was too dark to tell much of anything. Zukp couldn’t help but smirk.

  
“Foolproof, huh?” he teased. Sokka snorted a quiet laugh.

  
“Shut up.”

  
They sat in silence for a moment trying to figure out a new plan. They had to figure out a way to see if anyone had wandered into the drawing room and closed the window, and figure out what to do if they had. Truth be told their options were severely limited, but that had never managed to stop Sokka before.

  
“Okay I’ve got it,” he said suddenly. “We climb the tree and look from directly across from the window, close enough to see.”

  
“Climb the tree?” Zuko asked incredulously, “Sokka there aren’t any branches low enough to reach.”

  
“So we’ll just use our limbs, you know like a bear.”

  
“A bear?” the Firelord repeated. He couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know where you think I get all this astonishing upper body strength you seem to think I have, but there is no way either of us can climb this tree!” Sokka was about to deliver his retort when they heard footsteps coming towards them. They looked at each other in panic.

  
“Climb the tree!” they said in unison.

  
As it turned out, the astonishing upper body strength that Sokka had been planning for came from adrenaline as the two scrambled up the old oak. Sokka climbed slightly faster than his co-conspirator and reached down to pull him into the cover of the leaves. Zuko had almost made it with only a foot hanging down when they heard the voice.

  
“Firelord?” came the call, amusement evident in its tone.

  
“Suki,” Zuko answered, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible and swearing silently as his voice came out little more than a squeak. Suki smirked and lifted her lantern over her head in an effort to see farther up into the tree.

  
“And Sokka I presume.” The boy sighed.

  
“Hey, Suki.” The Kyoshi warrior chuckled and the boys slowly climbed back down the tree.

  
“So,” the head of palace security said as the two stood before her with their heads hung slightly, “might I enquire what it is you two are up to this evening?” Sokka brought his hand up to the back of his neck and looked up at their friend awkwardly.

  
“I, uh, well I thought since he’s been so stressed lately that it might be good for Zuko to take a break for a little bit and just go see the fireworks down at the market.”

  
“We made sure no one would recognize me!” Zuko added, “And we hid in the shadows most of the time!” Suki cast a glance over his clothes which were not only much more humble than his usual wardrobe but about a size too large for him as well.

  
“I can see that,” she quipped. “And you two were just coming back now?” The boys nodded.

  
“We had to sneak back in since no one knew that we had actually left in the first place,” Sokka explained. Suki nodded.

  
“Well,” she began, “if you’ve gone to all this trouble I don’t suppose anyone else needs to know. Now, if you’ll follow me I’ll escort you both inside.” She turned around and started walking. The two boys stood stunned for a moment before rushing to catch up.

  
“You’re really going to not say anything?” Zuko asked.

  
“Well, it’s good strategic practice for a ruler to sneak out every once in a while,” Suki said with a playful grin. “Being covert can be extremely helpful in a crisis situation.” The two grinned back, shaking their heads somewhat in disbelief. The three arrived at the front gates and the guards looked at them bewildered.

  
“Ma’am?” they asked as Suki held up a hand.

  
“Training exercise,” she said calmly, and the guards slowly nodded. They stepped aside and let the trio through, the two boys managing to keep their laughter contained until the doors were closed.

  


  


As the two friends quietly slipped into the royal chambers and shut the door, Sokka flopped down on Zuko’s bed with a dramatic groan. The Firelord leaned against the door, laughing as he relaxed at last. Sokka propped up on his elbows and grinned.

  
“See, I told you it would all work out.” Zuko let out a guffaw and walked over to the bed, yanking the pillow out from under Sokka’s head and throwing it onto the ground. He then began doing the same to the others.

  
“I don’t think you can take the credit for that,” he snorted. Sokka waved his hand dismissively.

  
“Eh, tomato tamahto.” He rolled off the bed and grabbed the silk comforter, dragging it over to the pillow nest Zuko was making. “It was still pretty fantastic.”

  
“It was,” the young leader agreed with a smile. “Pretty fantastic.” The door to the chambers opened just a crack and Suki slipped in carrying three mugs.

  
“I’ve got hot chocolate,” she sang and the boys sat up.

  
“Alright!” Sokka beamed, reaching for a mug.

  
“Careful,” Suki warned, “that one’s Zuko’s.” She directed Sokka to the correct mug before handing the Firelord his own. His eyes lit up as he smelled it and he looked to his friend excitedly.

  
“With chili peppers?” he asked. She nodded with a smile. He grinned as he took a sip, Sokka fake gagging in his peripheral. Without moving the cup from his lips he shoved him gently. The Water Tribesman squawked as Suki laughed at him, and Zuko took a deep centering breath. He watched his friends talking and laughing together with him in their blanket nest, cocoa in hand and lilts in their laughter, and he smiled. There were a lot of things in his life both past and present that were stressful, but this? He wouldn’t change this for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute little story about two idiots and their resident functional human. I don't own Avatar or anything associated with it. Happy reading!


End file.
